There Were Once Four
by Shtuff
Summary: Kakashi remembers his team after receiving devestating news. [OneShot]


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. If I did, Team Yondaime would all get hugs.

* * *

Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone, staring silently. Some days he spoke to Obito, some days he just stood. His hand slowly crept up to his face and pulled up his forehead protector, revealing the Sharingan eye he had received from the Uchiha. 

"You always had to out-do me." Kakashi's voice was quiet as he spoke. "You always had to prove you were better. Apparently, who would die first was no exception."

The only response was a breeze that rose, gently tugging at Kakashi's silver hair.

_Kakashi stood next to Rin and Yondaime. All three stared silently at the memorial stone. It had been a few weeks, but all three were still torn up inside. Tears freely fell from Rin's sad eyes and Kakashi found himself wishing that he could do the same. He found it impossible to shed the tears that were lurking just out of reach._

_Yondaime placed his hands on his two remaining students' shoulders. He hated war. They had just been children, forced to go fight. And look what had happened. His team had been broken, just like their hearts. It could never be repaired now. It was too late._

_Rin felt her heart breaking all over again. She leaned on Kakashi; he had become her strength. He motivated her to get out of bed in the mornings, to keep living. She glanced up at her teammate's face. Obito's eye looked out of place on him, but it had been the last gift the young Uchiha would ever give. Rin stared back down at the memorial stone._

_Obito…_

Kakashi was silent. He came to see Obito as often as possible. Sometimes, it was almost as if Obito was listening, yearning to help Kakashi, yearning to tell him what would be best.

Death, however, had permanently silenced Obito.

_Rin found Kakashi sitting by the memorial stone._

_"Obito… Yondaime-sensei… He died," Kakashi choked out, tears threatening to overflow._

_Rin approached quietly, sitting next to Kakashi._

_They sat in silence until Kakashi noticed the bundle in Rin's arms. He glanced meaningfully at it._

_Rin, with a sad smile, pulled back a piece of cloth, revealing a small child not even a month old. "Yondaime-sensei's son," she said softly, gazing down at the sleeping baby._

_Kakashi looked at the child, but instead of seeing Yondaime's blonde hair and features, he saw only one thing. "The Kyuubi container," he spat. "The container of the _creature_ that killed Yondaime-sensei."_

_Rin gaped at Kakashi, drawing the sleeping child closer to her._

_Kakashi glared. _The Kyuubi,_ he thought. _It was the Kyuubi that killed Yondaime-sensei, and it is the Kyuubi that is sealed in that child.

_Rin looked away from the angry boy sitting next to her. "Yondaime-sensei asked me to take care of him, to look after him," she said, softly. She realized that Kakashi was hurting, but this child was the last link they had to their sensei._

_Kakashi stood. "Fine," he said angrily._

_Rin watched Kakashi walk away as her heart broke for the third time._

Kakashi could hear Obito's voice berating him. _You were cruel that day,_ it told him._ You shouldn't have spoken so harshly._

Kakashi's cried out silently. _I know! I was wrong. I'm so sorry, Obito. Rin…_

"I have a place to see you, Obito," Kakashi said in a whisper. "And I can see Yondaime-sensei any time I want to at the Hokage monument. But her… I have nowhere to go where I can talk to her and tell her how sorry I am. So, if you would do me one final favor, Obito, tell her… Tell Rin I'm so sorry."

A single tear fell on the memorial stone.

They had just brought the news. Rin had died on a mission.

Kakashi stood with his head bowed. The Hokage's son would grow up without the love of a mother. He would grow up never knowing who his father was or knowing anything about himself.

He had considered raising the child himself. Kakashi laughed to himself. They forbade it. They had told him that he was not allowed to have any contact with the child unless natural circumstances ordained it.

What were they so afraid of? That Kakashi would tell the child everything? Would that be so bad?

Kakashi could see some of their reasoning. They had changed the child's family name to that of his mother. To protect him, they said. It would do no good for him to be hunted all his life because of who his father was, they said.

"I have to go, Obito. I have a mission, and I'm already late. I won't be back for a couple months. Maybe I'll die and I can join you, Sensei, and Rin," Kakashi commented with a morbid laugh.

There were once four. Now there was just one.

* * *

**A/N: **I thought that was sad. Anyway, the whole idea (and the title) came from MakoRedEyes on DeviantArt, and I thank her so much for the use of the title. To check out the picture that inspired this, the link is in my profile. 

Oh, yeah.

Review! Or... >.> Yondaime will Rasengan you.


End file.
